<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Little Help From My Furrends by AsagiStilinski</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366766">A Little Help From My Furrends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski'>AsagiStilinski</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Yuri!!! Down Under [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Australia, Animals, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Character's Name Spelled as Yuri, Fluff, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:49:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24366766</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuri wasn't always great at putting his stage fright behind him, and now as Viktor's first TV spot approaches, he attempts to help him the same way that he was helped several years ago</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Yuri!!! Down Under [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Little Help From My Furrends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If you want to know more about the Yuri!!! Down Under verse, please visit our Tumblr, where you can find art, headcanons, and more! https://madaliceproductions.tumblr.com/</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yuri never had any intention of being famous. He never intended to do anything that would get him attention or put him in the public eye. </p>
<p>Since childhood, he planned on working at the zoo with his parents and sister, but also knew he didn't have it in him to be a vet. He couldn't stand seeing animals sick or hurt. He didn't think he'd be able to spend every day of his career bearing witness to that, even if he <em>was</em> there to help them through it. He always assumed he would work as a zookeeper, though, and maybe move on to being an educator in a small capacity. But that wasn't how life happened.</p>
<p>He initially began educating at the zoo somewhat unknowingly when he first started learning English. Everyone thought he was so cute, by the time he reached his teen years, he had his own afternoon program. By eighteen, his career was cemented into the ground harder than half the fencing units.</p>
<p>In a lot of ways, it was a blessing. He never had to worry about his career not working out or not knowing what he was doing with his life. But in other ways...</p>
<p>Yuri never had any intention of being famous.</p>
<p>"I don't think I can do this."</p>
<p>"You're going to be fine," Minako said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes as she gently but firmly squeezed Yuri's shoulders.</p>
<p>"I'm not, though! What if I forget everything? What if I get distracted and one of the animals gets loose? What if there's an injury? What if the animals get scared? What—"</p>
<p>"Yuri, you've been doing shows like this for years. How many mistakes have you made?"</p>
<p>"Alot," Yuri replied flatly, expression blank.</p>
<p>"Okay, let me rephrase that. How many have resulted in any living creature getting hurt?"</p>
<p>Yuri fidgeted, swallowing and biting his lip. "None..."</p>
<p>"Then—"</p>
<p>"But those were different! Those weren’t in front of CAMERAS and... and... on national TV!"</p>
<p>"I'm pretty sure the animals aren't going to notice this will be on national TV."</p>
<p>No, but Yuri certainly knew.</p>
<p>Over his career, he really had made a lot of mistakes. All kinds of incidents where he got tongue-tied or succumbed to stage fright or broke out in such a nervous sweat, when he looked back on the footage later, he was convinced he'd been tossed in a lake. Or incidents when he forgot his lines or facts or people’s names...</p>
<p>That was always bad enough, but those shows had been smaller. Local news coverage and live spectacles at the zoo. This was his first time being on a national talk show—or a national <em>anything</em>, really. He didn't even know why he had been chosen for this. Sure, the Irwins were unavailable, but couldn't literally <em>anyone else</em> do this show just as easily as he could?</p>
<p>More easily, in fact.</p>
<p>He took another shaky breath, and slid down the wall, curling in on himself. He could hear the audience laughing and applauding even from backstage, and knowing just how many people were there… Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and his stomach churned. Everything was awful. He was going to fail. He was going to make some massive mistake that got someone hurt. It was going to be all his fault—</p>
<p>Suddenly, he had an armful of armadillo.</p>
<p>Blinking in confusion, he looked up as Minako walked away, leaving him with the pink fairy armadillo they brought along. Initially, he wanted to shout after her, to ask why she just dumped an armadillo in his lap and walked off, but he didn't really get the chance. The armadillo nudged his hand and stared up at him with those sweet, innocent little eyes, and everything else faded to the background.</p>
<p>It was like a magic spell had been cast. His nervousness vanished, and the ease he always had when he was around animals returned. He tuned out the rest of the world and focused on the armadillo. He gently stroked her head and exhaled.</p>
<p>He couldn't necessarily say he felt any more confident than he had earlier, but he felt... <em>better</em>.</p>
<p>"You're on."</p>
<p>Yuri looked up at one of the other zookeepers who came with him, Sara. He forced a smile, then remembered he was going to be doing what he loved—talking about animals, educating people about them, interacting with them and watching as others grew to love them like he did—and the smile suddenly wasn't quite so forced.</p>
<p>He rose to his feet, cuddling the armadillo closer, and walked out into the bright lights of the stage.</p>
<p>Yuri never had any intention of being famous, but that was okay. This show wasn't about him, it was about the animals. And if he could just remember that, then maybe... maybe everything would be okay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~+~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you sure that you want me to do this?"</p>
<p>Yuri glanced up from the Flemish Giant rabbit on his lap and smiled at Viktor as his boyfriend paced around backstage. "Possum, love, we discussed this. You don't have to if you don't want to. But if you do want to, I want you to, okay?"</p>
<p>"I want to," Viktor promised quickly, his face a little pink, suggesting that maybe Viktor had a bit more hesitation than he was admitting. "I just... well it's <em>your</em> show Yuri... and I've never... really been the focus on camera before."</p>
<p>"Come here." Without question, Viktor crossed over to his boyfriend and sat down next to him. He tilted his head as Yuri wrapped his arms around the enormous rabbit in his lap and hoisted her onto Viktor's instead. "You're not gonna be the focus on camera this time, either love. She is."</p>
<p>It seemed to click for Viktor just like it had to Yuri all those years before—this wasn't about them. And just as it had for Yuri years ago, the nervousness seemed to pour out of Viktor all in one exhale as he started stroking his fingers through the rabbit's fur.</p>
<p>"Yes... I suppose you're right about that." Viktor smiled slightly as Yuri stood up and made his way over to one of the other trainers, taking hold of the baby albino alligator they'd brought along.</p>
<p>Viktor had been working with him for nearly a year now. They had done several of these shows together at this point, and he already knew very well that Yuri struggled with stage fright and anxiety before shows. He knew that to calm down and breathe, Yuri needed to focus on the animals, not on himself.</p>
<p>He knew, and he <em>understood</em>, the same way that Yuri knew and understood him.</p>
<p>"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" Viktor asked with a slight smile, his expression warm as Yuri settled down next to him again and rested his head on Viktor's shoulder.</p>
<p>"We are." He tilted his head up to give Viktor a kiss on the cheek. "I think that's what makes us fun to watch on the telley."</p>
<p>Viktor laughed, and the rabbit leaned up, gently booping her head against his, just as one of the producers came back to get Yuri. "I guess we're about to find out," he hummed, then shared one more kiss with Yuri before the brunette headed out to start his segment on the show.</p>
<p>Viktor never had any intention of being famous, but Yuri was already there. And if he had to show his face on camera a few times to keep up this wonderful life he'd fallen into with Yuri... Well, there were definitely worse fates out there.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>